Previewing The National Pro Fastpitch College Draft

Paige Parker is a dominate pitcher for the University of Oklahoma. Will she be a top pick in the National Pro Fastpitch draft? (Photo by Torrey Purvey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)(Photo by Torrey Purvey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Finally, we have reached the week of the draft. Yes, trades and free agent signing are interesting. But the draft tends to be the highlight of the off-season. And on Monday night we finally get to see which players are going to be part of the future of the league.

The lack of media coverage means that the endless draft analysis we seem to see every hour of every day for the NFL doesn't really exist for the NPF. Consequently fans of the NPF may be wondering who their favorite teams might be considering on Monday.

So who should the Bandits -- and the other NPF teams -- consider selecting on Monday night?

To answer this question, Barbara Jordan -- color analyst of the NPF -- provided a list college seniors who might be considered. Beyond noting the names, though, it would be helpful to also consider what each of these college players has done this season.

Nevertheless, with the help Pete Egedi of 805stats, data for every Division-I softball hitter and pitcher was downloaded and analyzed. With data in hand we can evaluate the prospects Barbara Jordan identified as well as other top seniors the NPF teams might also consider.

For example, the top senior batter in college softball is Vanessa Shippy. After 44 games, Shippy posted the following numbers as infielder for Oklahoma State: 0.492 batting average, 1.342 OPS, and 0.299 runs created per plate appearance (RCPA). In contrast, an average hitter in softball posts the following stats:

0.270 batting average

0.551 OPS

0.014 RCPA

Obviously Shippy is well above average so it's no surprise she was one of the eight hitters Barbara Jordan identified as a top prospect. The other seven names -- with their statistics -- is reported below:

Erica Piancastelli (Infielder, McNeese): 0.350, 1.306, 0.264

Gwen Svekis (Infielder, Oregon): 0.324, 1.116, 0.225

Nicole Pendley (Outfielder, Oklahoma): 0.311, 1.061, 0.215

Jenna Lilley (Infielder, Oregon): 0.381, 1.047, 0.195

Kayli Kvistad (First Base, Florida): 0.311, 0.958, 0.190

DJ Sanders (Infielder, Oregon): 0.268, 0.998, 0.178

Carlee Wallace (Catcher, Baylor): 0.303, 0.834, 0.121

When it comes to RCPA, each of these players are well above average. And except for Piancastelli, these seniors all play in a Power Five conference (i.e. ACC, SEC, PAC-12, Big 10, Big 12). Looking at the seniors in these conferences, the following eight players might also be considered in the NPF draft on Tuesday.

An average pitcher will have an ERA over 3.00. Not surprisingly, each of these pitchers have been above average this year. And both Paige Parker and Paige Lowary have helped Oklahoma to consecutive national titles. So each should be on the wish list for an NPF team in 2018.

Other pitchers, though, will also receive consideration. As the following list of top seniors (from the Power Five conferences) reveals, Tera Blanco is not just a top hitter. She is also a top pitcher.

Brittany Gray (Georgia): 16-1, 0.48, 1.41

Holly Ward (Mississippi State): 11-4, 1.50, 1.69

Cassady Knudsen (Mississippi State): 12-5, 1.64, 2.06

Kristina Zalewski (Michigan State): 8-9, 1.99, 2.12

Paige von Sprecken (Texas): 10-6, 1.44, 2.23

Tera Blanco (Michigan): 8-2, 1.33, 2.31

Kaylee Carlson (Auburn): 17-3, 0.87, 2.37

Given all these names, who should the Bandits take first? Just looking at the statistics and maybe what their teams did in college, Vanessa Shippy and Paige Parker probably top their wish list. Of course, they can only select one of these players. But after the Beijing Eagles select second, the Bandits also hold the third pick as well. In other words, the Bandits have an opportunity to select two players who can definitely help the team going forward.

Of course, the Bandits are not the only teams that will be helped this draft. Once again, the entire draft only consists of 23 picks. This means that some of these players cannot be selected at all. Once again, the NPF has not been around very long. In the future, as the league grows, more and more college stars will have the opportunity to play professionally. As for now, only the very best players will be selected. We can see who the numbers think are the very best. On Monday night we will see which college players the NPF teams consider the best.

I am a professor of economics at Southern Utah University who has spent the last two decades researching sports and economics. I am the lead author of "The Wages of Wins" (Stanford Press, 2006) and "Stumbling on Wins" (Financial Times Press, 2010). In addition, I am the so...